Even the cleanest homes in America aren't safe from house bugs. These common pests often seem to appear out of thin air – one day there’s nothing, and the other, they’ve invaded.
There are many reasons why you’re seeing a specific species in your home, and that can be your region, the season, and other aspects around the house… but the most important thing is to know how to get rid of them quickly. Once that’s done, you can work on house bug prevention.
Let’s cover the most common house bugs and how to get rid of them – there are a lot more than these out there, but these solutions work for most of them!
Drain flies
These tiny flies are very common in bathroom drains because they love moisture. Though they’re pretty harmless and much less annoying than house flies, we can’t just let them take over.
Luckily, an easy way to get rid of them is to boil water and pour it down the drain. For a more powerful solution, create a mix of ½ a cup of baking soda, ½ a cup of salt, and 1 cup of vinegar, then pour down the drain and leave it overnight.
Stink bug
Stink bugs feed on plants and may appear in your home depending on the season (mostly during Spring), or if you have a lot of plants nearby. They’re also harmless to humans, but as their name suggests, they produce a terrible odor that’s very uncomfortable to us.
Aside from manually grabbing them with a plastic bag and taking them outdoors, there are a few ways to drive them away:
- Use essential oils. Mint essential oil is particularly useful, as stink bugs are not fans of it. Your home will smell nicer and it will prevent these pests from hanging around at the same time.
- Neem oil. This is an organic pesticide that you can spray near plants and windows to ward off stink bugs.
Ants
Ants are known for finding a way inside your home from almost anywhere. They can show up in any region, pretty much anywhere in the world too – they’re adaptable little bugs!
Luckily, they can be easily warded off with natural repellents. Ants don’t like coffee, lemon, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and chalk, to name a few.
For example, you can draw a line with chalk around a place where you notice ants showing up, and they will avoid it at all costs. This won’t remove them from your property, but it will deny them easy access to a table or pantry.
A more effective method is to create a mixture of peppermint, lavender oil, and water, and spray it wherever you see ants could come in from.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches are some of the hardest bugs to get rid of. They are attracted to food sources and are incredibly resilient, making them hard to ward off with natural remedies.
A common cockroach trap is to sprinkle some diced onions with baking soda, which is lethal to them. Place this in a dish in places where you’ve seen roaches and they should consume it. However, you should use this carefully because it’s also lethal to pets and children if they end up ingesting it.
Essential oils like peppermint are also effective to repel roaches if you spray them around, but it does not kill them.
The most effective way to actually get rid of roaches is to purchase a bait station – these can be hidden in strategic places and the roaches will take them to others, making it easier to eliminate many at once.
If this doesn’t work or you don’t want to risk using toxic substances around the house, you may want to contact a pest control expert!
Termites
Termites are arguably the hardest pest to get rid of by yourself, which is why I highly recommend a pest control company for them.
The reason is that termites hide in extremely awkward places and in large quantities, and the chemicals used to kill them are very toxic when inhaled, requiring special gear for application. Besides, termites tend to show up in large quantities, making it difficult to eliminate them for good with homemade brews.
Having said that, store-bought termite pesticides can be sprayed in places where you see them for a quick way to contain the infestation, but it’s hard to tell if you got them all.
Flies
House flies are attracted to all sorts of food, making them a nuisance mainly in the kitchen. Luckily, there are many ways to naturally make your home unwelcome for them.
First, there are herbs and houseplants that help in keeping house flies away. These include options like lavender, catnip, bay leaves, marigold, basil, and others.
If you want fast results, you can purchase a light trap – these emit light that flies are attracted to and zaps them when they get close. It won’t prevent them from appearing, but it will get rid of the ones that are bothering you right now.
Finally, you can also create a fly trap to eliminate any survivors still hanging around. A really easy one is to get a small bowl or jar and pour a cup of apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap. The flies will be attracted to the mixture and get stuck in it.
Need help getting rid of a pest in your house? Get in touch with pest control experts in your area!
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